


Incubus

by wicked3659



Category: due South
Genre: Ficlet, Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wicked3659/pseuds/wicked3659
Summary: Fraser has a nightmare.
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Comments: 22
Kudos: 26





	Incubus

**Author's Note:**

> Written on a whim for Halloween. This is me procrastinating from working on my Nanowrimo. I hope it's a little spooky.
> 
> Not beta'd

Benton Fraser had never been afraid of the dark. Growing up in the Northwest Territories where the sun disappeared for five months of the year, being afraid would get you killed. Knowing this, being rational about this, didn't stop him feeling unsettled as he shut off the consulate lights for the evening. Checking the main door was locked he felt a shiver creep up his spine. Turning quickly, he frowned at the shadowy hall. "Hello?" 

Of course there was no response. He shook his head and tugged his ear. He was being ridiculous. There was nobody in the consulate after hours. Only him. "Dear Lord, Benton, you have regular conversations with your dead father," he chided himself aloud. "There is nothing to be afraid of in shadows." Besides he had a wolf for a companion, he was safer than many in Chicago. 

Willing his heart to slow down, he made his way to the kitchen and set the kettle to boil on the stove top. Still a niggling whisper in his mind forced him to turn around and face the doorway. The corridor only showed meager light visible coming from his tiny office. It cast a long dark shadow in front of the kitchen. Shadows were just the absence of light, they didn't move. That was just a trick the brain played when the eyes didn't have enough light to process what they were seeing. Nothing else was in the consulate. Just him and Dief. 

He jumped when the shrill whistle of the kettle pierced the silence. "Oh for God's sake," he bit out. "I am not afraid." He poured the water into his cup and dipped the tea bag a couple of times. "I am a Mountie." 

Resolved, Benton picked up his tea and marched resolutely to his office, switching off the kitchen light behind him. He stopped in the doorway of his office and looked back over his shoulder into the dark corridor, his eyes searching the darkness for… he really didn't know what. 

Ray would call it instinct. The feeling of being watched. Trust your instincts, Fraser he would say. 

His sharp ears could pick up the occasional car driving past and the sound of rain on the windows. There was nothing else, just shadows and silence. Anything that might have sounded like a breath or a sigh, or a shadow that seemed darker than others was just a figment of his imagination. He was tired, it had been a long day. 

He stepped into his office and shut the door behind him. Diefenbaker was curled up at the foot of his cot. There that proved he was being unhinged. He was a wolf, he had the instincts of the wild, if there was someone else in the consulate Diefenbaker would have been the first to know. He would have reacted. The fact that he hadn't reacted to his father upon his first appearance was not important. 

Sitting at his desk, he sipped his tea and his eyes glanced at his closet. Perhaps his father would--no he was being silly. There was nothing he needed his father to convince him of. There was nobody else in the consulate. Just him. 

He leaped out of his seat, spilling hot tea over his hand when a loud knock on the door jarred his senses. 

Diefenbaker looked up and whined. 

Benton stared at the door with wide eyes and flinched at the three heavy raps on his door. 

"Fraser, let me in." 

"Ray?" Benton frowned at the door and looked at his watch, it was past midnight. Why was Ray there so late?

"Is, is everything alright?" He asked tentatively through the door, his hand reaching for the doorknob, stopping before he touched it. 

"Yeah, let me in. I need to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" 

"I know."

"Know?" 

"I know how you feel." 

Benton stilled and stared at the still closed door, his heart beating quickly. How could he possibly? 

"Let me in."

"I wouldn't open that door, son." 

Whirling around, Benton stared at his father. "What? Why? It's Ray." 

Robert Fraser pressed his lips together firmly. "I am telling you don't open that door, Benton." 

Frowning and running a hand through his hair, Benton glared at him. "What is going on? That is my partner." 

"That's not your partner."

"What are you talking about?" 

"There are things, son. Things I can't explain but at certain times, things can slip through and they're drawn to things like themselves." 

"What on Earth are you blithering on about?" Benton demanded in frustration. He jumped when the door banged. 

"Fraser! This is serious. Let me in." 

"That is Ray," he pointed at the door. "This is ridiculous, I'm letting him in." He turned and put his hand on the door. 

"You are talking to your  _ dead _ father. That alone should tell you there are other things in the universe that cannot be explained." 

Benton tensed, his hand on the doorknob. "There are more things in heaven and Earth…" 

"Than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Robert finished. "You can see more than others, Son, you can see me, you're lonely, that makes you vulnerable."

"Fraser, open the door. I need you." 

Closing his eyes, his heart pounding furiously, Benton gripped the doorknob more tightly, his voice a tight whisper. "He is my partner." 

"Ben, trust me do not open that door." 

A loud bang jolted him out of his seat, his eyes flying open. Benton gasped as hot tea spilled over his hand. He blinked rapidly, Diefenbaker tilted his head quizzically at him and whined. He'd fallen asleep. "It's alright, Dief," he uttered. "It was just a dream." 

He rubbed his face and breathed deeply when there was a sudden knock on his door. 

"Fraser, you in there? Let me in." 

Staring at the door, feeling relief at the sound of his partner's voice, Benton automatically got up and opened the door. "Ray, it's good to see you."

Ray stood there and their eyes met, Ray's darkened by the shadows of the corridor. "I knocked a few times. Did I wake you?"

"No," Benton shook his head. "Yes, it's alright, I was having a bad dream anyway. Come in, is everything alright?" 

"It is now."

Benton stepped back to give Ray space and turned his back to him to pick up the phone when it rang. "Canadian Consulate, Constable Benton Fraser speaking." 

"Yeah, I know who you are, Frase who else would pick up at this time." 

Benton froze, the skin on the back of his neck prickling. 

"Sorry for calling so late. I just had a nightmare and I couldn't get back to sleep. Needed to talk to you or someone, mostly you." 

"Ray." The name was a whisper on Benton's lips. 

"Well yeah, who else?" 

Benton swallowed, his mouth dry and he slowly turned back to the door, his hand gripping the phone tightly as he came face to face with Ray. 

"Ray…"

"Fraser? Frase? You're freaking me out here, you okay? Is someone there? Damnit Fraser, speak to me! Fraser! Benton buddy!" 

Benton watched, transfixed as Ray closed his office door behind him, his dark eyes never leaving his face. The phone slipped from his hand as a slow, too wide smile spread across his partner's face.

****   
  



End file.
